he Rev. Paul R. Shanley, who has been jailed for seven months on charges that he raped four boys while assigned to a Newton parish in the 1970s and '80s, could be released on bail as early as this week, said a spokesman for the Middlesex district attorney's office.

Shanley has been held on $300,000 cash bail since May, when he was brought back to Massachusetts after his arrest in San Diego.

Horwitz said prosecutors did not know exactly when Shanley would be released or who had posted the money to secure his release. Shanley's lawyer, Frank Mondano, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Shanley, 71, is due back in Middlesex Superior Court tomorrow for a pretrial hearing in his criminal case.

Horwitz said that prosecutors had advocated a higher bail for Shanley. After his return from San Diego, a district court judge set his bail at $750,000, but that amount was later reduced to $300,000 by Superior Court Judge Charles J. Hely.

Shanley has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of child rape and six counts of indecent assault and battery.

Prosecutors alleged that he raped the boys while he was assigned to the now-defunct St. John the Evangelist Parish in Newton.

Shanley has also been named in a large number of civil lawsuits alleging that he molested young boys during his time as a priest.

Earlier this year, the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston released files indicating that church officials had received complaints about Shanley dating to 1967.

The files also showed that church officials were aware that Shanley had advocated sex between men and boys.

The Rev. Ronald H. Paquin remains in jail. In May, he was indicted in Essex County on three counts of rape of a child.